TEN years after the outback murder of Peter Falconio his killer has broken his silence for the first time with claims from behind bars that the ­British backpacker is still alive.

Drug-dealing mechanic Bradley John Murdoch, 53, is serving 28 years in an Alice Springs prison for ­shooting 28-year-old Mr Falconio in Australia in July 2001.

He was also found guilty of ­abducting Mr Falconio’s girlfriend, Joanne Lees They were both from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.

Murdoch, who insists he is ­innocent, was convicted after his DNA was found at the crime scene on a remote part of the Stuart Highway, in the Northern Territory.

Last night on TV the killer made a number of outlandish claims in a phone call recorded for a current affairs TV programme.

Murdoch said Falconio was still alive. “I might be a bit rough around the edges and all that sort of thing, but, you know, I’m [a] pretty straight up sort of person.

“I’ve got a heart – I’m a little bit of a gentle giant at times,” Murdoch said in a rambling tirade.

Bradley John Murdoch, 53, is serving 28 years in an Alice Springs prison

“[I] might have knocked a few ­people around with me knuckles and that sort of thing, but, nah, I never had anything to do with it.”

His claims came during a phone interview with his ­lawyer, Andrew Fraser, recorded for the Sunday Night programme on Australia’s Channel 7.

Mr Fraser claimed to have proof that Falconio is still alive.

However, he admitted that he has not spoken to any of the four people he claimed have come forward to say they had seen Falconio since the shooting.

He said: “One hundred per cent, I say Falconio’s alive, so what’s the significance of the DNA? It is irrelevant. Everything about this case is odd.”

While most media interviews with prisoners are illegal in the Northern Territory, Channel 7’s journalist Rahni Sadler was also present during the conversation but the network said Sadler had not asked any questions or broken the law.